The Best Friend
by petrelli heiress
Summary: Completely AU. Rachel moves to New York and befriends Peter and Gabriel. She falls for Nathan. She and the three guys bond over movies. When Nathan begins dating Rachel and thus quiting law school the Petrelli parents decide to get involved.
1. Peter, Nathan and Gabriel

**The Best Friend**

**Chapter One: Peter, Nathan and Gabriel**

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

My family moved from a little town in New Zealand to New York City when my mother, Nancy, was promoted to Director of her department at the company she worked for. My father, Greg, got transferred over to the American department of _his _company and everything was basically hunky dory.

I was twelve when we moved and wasn't exactly very good at making friends, and so had no misgivings about moving to New York. I was enrolled in a very expensive private school called the Terence Howard School for the Exceptionally Gifted, a.k.a. the Exceptionally Rich. It went through every grade, from elementary to high school.

It was here I met my best friend, Peter Petrelli. Peter's father, Arthur, was incredibly rich and, it was rumoured, had connections to the mob. Thus people were nice to Peter but never really became close to him. The only person I knew of who tried to bully him was kicked out, pretty quickly.

I didn't know any of this, of course. And so when I saw him sitting all alone in the cafeteria (his table deserted) it was natural that I sit there. Plus there were no other spare seats.

I could tell he was surprised from the way he stared at me, his mouth open. I could tell he was having a lettuce, ham and cheese sandwich. A lock of his dark hair fell into his eyes. When he noticed that I was staring back he closed his mouth hurriedly and blushed.

And then I did something I'd never done before: I introduced myself.

He stared at me, his mouth wide open yet again. At least this time he appeared to have swallowed his food.

"Um...hi. I'm Rachel...?" I repeated myself just in case he hadn't heard.

He blinked and seemed to realise that I was actually talking to him. He pushed his hair out of his face, although it immediately fell back into place again, and stuttered, "I'm P-Peter."

At least I wasn't the only one who was nervous. This gave me just enough courage to ask, "Peter, why are you sitting all by yourself?"

I immediately regretted it when he blushed bright red with shame. "They're scared of...my dad," he muttered.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Peter looked like he was being tortured. I wondered when the last time was that someone had actually talked to him like I was doing. "Uhh..." he began then paused. "I don't know."

It was my turn to blink. "You don't know? How could you not know?" Then understanding dawned. No one talked to him. His parents probably didn't feel like informing him that maybe he might not have many friends in school. Of course he wouldn't know. "Oh."

Peter squirmed in his seat. He looked like he was psyching himself up for something very big. "Umm...would you mind sitting here every day?"

I was surprised. No one had asked me if they could borrow a pen from me let alone asked me if I wouldn't mind sitting with them at lunch. Of course my answer was, "Okay."

Peter looked even more surprised than I felt. I wondered again how many friends he'd had. Scratch that. How many people had actually talked to him? At least people had talked to me.

And that was the beginning of our friendship. Peter, once I got to know him, was pretty cool. He had a huge house, with an actual TV room, complete with a video library. Because my mother is absolutely obsessed with anything to do with films or TV I always judge people on their taste in movies. Mum had nothing to worry about on Peter's score. He hated horror movies. And with that our friendship was sealed.

We didn't just watch movies, of course. Sometimes we left the room to visit the video store. As we grew older nothing changed very much. We sat together at lunch and discussed the latest episode of _The X Files_ or what movie we'd seen in the few spare moments we hadn't been together.

I met his older brother, Nathan, a few times, as well as his parents. I preferred Nathan to Mama and Papa Petrelli (as I secretly called them) any day. However Nathan was only fun to hang around with when he let himself go. The rest of the time he was incredibly boring, discussing the latest news on Wall Street or the newest change in the law or whatever with Arthur, or discussing world politics with Angela.

Arthur and Angela (as they told me I could call them) were two of the worst parents I had ever seen. Neither seemed to realise that, before I came along, Peter was suffering big time. Or that Nathan would prefer watching movies with us than going to law school. I grew to despise them, although I never said anything like this to Peter, who, for all their obvious faults, still loved them.

When I was fourteen, however, my feelings towards Nathan changed dramatically. I'd already received that oh-so-wonderful gift that every woman receives when I was eleven but it wasn't 'til I was fourteen that my hormones kicked in. Oh yes, I'd found lots of boys attractive (not Peter, though. I just didn't see him in that light) but never Nathan. He was just Peter's older brother. Albeit an older brother with _great _taste in movies.

I was trying to lock the front door of the Petrelli mansion. Peter had gone on ahead of me pick out a movie. Mama and Papa Petrelli had told Peter that since they were going out that night and were thus giving the servants the day off he had to lock the door. He'd hoistered that lovely job off onto me.

Now I was hopeless at using keys. It freaked me out. Sometimes I didn't know what key to use, or which way to turn it. The latter always gave me problems. I might actually lock the door and then turn it and thus unlock it.

I was getting very frustrated when a hand came out of nowhere, took the key gently out of my hand, turned it in the lock and locked the door. He made it look so simple.

I already knew who it was and was glancing up to thank him when I saw what he was wearing. He was dressed to go to the same benefit his parents were going to, in a tuxedo complete with bowtie. He looked breathtaking.

He smiled at me and I realised that I probably looked a mess, having made myself red with frustration and added to that my mouth open in utter shock at how delicious he looked. I tried not to moan in delight.

"You better go up to Peter. For all we know he's picked out some complete crapper like _Blonde Ambition_."

That snapped me out of my daze. "Hey! I happen to love that movie!"

He grinned and left, after unlocking the door and then locking the door behind him.

I stood in the entrance for a while. The only words that passed my lips before Peter came to fetch me (sometimes I got lost in the mansion even though I've been there a million times) were, "Oh dear."

And "Oh dear" perfectly summed it up. Now whenever Nathan watched movies with us I'd surreptitiously sneak a glance at Nathan. These secretive glances soon turned into all-out gazing until the movie had ended and I was left to go, "Huh?"

Peter, despite my obviousness, never noticed a thing. Especially once we had added another member to our gang. I had heard (through eavesdropping, since, like Peter, no one talked to me) that a new boy was expected to arrive in the next few days. I ambushed Peter with the idea of befriending him the morning he was meant to arrive.

Peter vetoed the very idea. He was only ever really comfortable around me, his brother and his parents. He said he was fine the way things were and didn't want another friend.

"Oh, come on!" I said. "I remember when I was new and felt absolutely freaked about making friends. What if this new guy feels the exact same way? And," I added, knowing this point would sway him, "what if we can make another fan of _Blonde Ambition_?"

Peter hesitated but I already knew I had him. Grinning, I made my way to the school office, tugging him behind me. I offered our services as tour guides to the principal's secretary, who seemed pleased that she wouldn't have to talk to any of the students personally. She agreed immediately.

When Gabriel Gray (that was the new guy's name) exited the principal's office (well, pushed out was a more descriptive phrase) Peter's entire attitude changed. He stared at Gabriel, as though at a new species of porcupine. I mean, he all-out stared, like he had never seen another human being before.

I introduced myself and, after I realised that he wasn't saying anything impressive, Peter and Gabriel, in turn, introduced himself. He glanced at Peter, bemused, probably wondering whether Peter was normally like that, and then turned his attention on me.

That was pretty scary, let me tell you. He had the most expressive brown eyes you have ever seen. If I hadn't already been utterly in love with Nathan I would have fallen for Monsieur Gabriel Gray. Okay, he was pretty geeky looking, his brown hair brushed back rather severely and those intimidating eyes hidden behind glasses, but those intense eyes. Wow.

I had never really had a conversation with another guy who wasn't a) my best friend, b) his father, c) my dad, or d) my best friend's big brother so I was floundering a bit as I led him to his homeroom (which happened to be mine and Peter's. Coincidence?). Peter wasn't helping. When we were seated at our desks I kicked him on the shin. All he did was turn his stare on me and go, "Gah?"

I had to find out what was the matter. And so with five minutes of homeroom to go I excused myself and Peter to Gabriel, and Mr. Medina, and pulled Peter out into the hall.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked angrily.

Apparently being out of the presence of Gabriel had cured him of his daze because he blushed and looked at his feet in a very embarrassed fashion. "I don't know," he said, a wretched tone in his voice. "He's just so..._hot_."

Okay, I had to admit I was surprised. Yes, it happens to be very hard to find a guy who likes _Blonde Ambition_ as much as I but I'd never expected anything like this. Or that my best friend would use the word 'hot' to describe anything, let alone a guy, who, I'll admit, does deserve it.

"Yes, he is, Peter," I said, trying to remain calm. "But that does not mean you have to act all..." I searched for a word. "...gah-ish."

Peter looked unimpressed. "Gah-ish? Is that even a word?"

I was annoyed, and could tell he was trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. "No, but it should be. That is not the point, though. This is big stuff, Peter," I continued, trying to sound serious. "I mean, you like this guy, right?"

"Like him? I don't even know him." But the blush that suffused his cheeks told a different story.

I snorted. "Yeah. Right. Peter, you like Gabriel. That is a fact. There's nothing you say against it," I added when he appeared to be about to open his mouth. He shut it immediately. "So stop acting like a complete idiot otherwise he'll never go out with you."

He looked at from beneath his hair. "You mean...you don't mind?"

"Mind? Why would I mind?" I asked, trying not to jump for joy that Peter had actually expressed an interest in someone. I had been about to give up hope.

He smiled. "Never mind."

And that was that. Gabriel was now officially part of our gang. You may be wondering what Gabriel was thinking about all this. We found out later that we were the first friends he'd ever had (I know, shocker). Peter then said that that was probably part of our membership criteria anyway. And he at least pretended an interest in _Blonde Ambition_, which was nice of him.


	2. A Bloody TellingOff

**Chapter Two: A Bloody Telling-Off**

__________________________________________________________________________________

Peter, Gabriel and I became sort of inseparable. We did everything together...everything being watching movies. Gabriel introduced us to new movies like _My Man Godfrey_ and _My Favourite Brunette_. I had misgivings about a Bob Hope film but Gabriel turned out to have very good taste in movies which put him in my good books, at least. Plus Peter actually liked him, which was new...and good.

Nathan didn't seem to mind our latest addition. But Arthur and Angela had gone completely nuts at the inclusion of a boy into our group. I think Arthur had begun to think his youngest son was becoming a 'nancy boy,' always being with me, and all. They were happy to have another male in the house to 'make a man' out of Peter. And those were their exact words. Nathan felt it his duty to tell me.

I tried to keep a straight face as he did. It was very hard, let me tell you. I could tell Nathan was trying not to laugh as he told me. I wondered if he had seen the way Peter acted around Gabriel (even though I frequently had to kick him Peter still didn't seem to have stopped his gah-ish behaviour. Gabriel sometimes caught Peter staring at him, usually when he thought Gabriel wasn't watching, like when we were watching a movie. His mouth was usually open, too. I think Gabriel put it down as Peter's eccentricity) or if he had guessed that Peter wasn't like other boys. Knowing Nathan, he probably had.

My crush on Nathan hadn't got very far. Although I found him totally adorable, sometimes I also found his behaviour somewhat disconcerting. Even though he obviously wasn't interested in being a lawyer he continued to go to law school (which meant that I only saw him when he wasn't there – actually a lot of the time since the Petrellis had a private jet. So cool) just, I was beginning to suspect, to please his parents. They seemed to have some sort of plan for him, from what I had 'accidentally' heard while listening at keyholes.

Listening at keyholes had become my new thing. It was the only way I ever found out anything, especially when concerning the Petrelli boys. And the gist of what I learnt was: the Petrelli parents were completely crazy. Sometimes Arthur would say something and then Angela would, after a lengthy pause, repeat it back to him in a dreamy voice. I started to think that maybe Angela had some sort of drinking problem, although I knew she never touched the stuff.

Arthur was the one you had to watch out for. Although Angela was pretty scary if you messed with her Arthur was downright...well, the only word I can come up with would be...villainous. He was creepy and very wrinkled (not that wrinkles are bad – my father has a lot of them). Sometimes I wondered if both Petrelli boys were adopted because neither looked like either parent. Thank god.

Nathan did everything his parents told him to do, thus he was their golden boy. Peter was the misfit, the disappointment. Thankfully they never said this in his hearing. It would have destroyed him. I don't think they really like me either. When Peter first brought me home I think they thought he had finally found a girlfriend. Imagine their disappointment when they discovered we were only friends. Gabriel they liked merely because he was a boy. If they found out that he was the object of Peter's affections that would quickly go down the drain.

Sometimes I wondered why I liked Nathan, when he was so well liked by his parents. And then I realised (very slowly, because that is the way I am) that the part of him that his parents liked wasn't real. The real Nathan was someone who liked watching movies with his kid brother and his friends, someone who helped said kid brother and his friends with their homework, someone whose guilty pleasure was watching _The Breakfast Club_ and _The Philadelphia Story_. And that was the Nathan I had a crush on.

Plus, sometimes, he didn't wear a shirt when he came into Peter's room, which I thought was very considerate of him.

One day (this was about three years after Gabriel had joined our gang) I walked into the kitchen (Gabriel and I had stayed over because the movie we were watching had ended too late) and found him in just this situation. It was a very nice view, for so early in the morning. Arthur and Angela, thankfully, were not up. I didn't know when they got up; it was either very early or very late.

"Oh," Nathan said, glancing up guiltily from the bowl of Coco Pops in front of him. When he saw that it was only me the guilty expression was instantly replaced with one of relief. "Oh, Rachel, it's only you."

Yeah. Only me.

Since I am blunt and usually blunder into things I probably shouldn't, I asked, after grabbing myself a bowl of those same Coco Pops, "Why did you look so guilty when I came in?"

I already knew the answer. Or, at least, I thought I did. I wanted to see if he would lie to me. Papa and Mama Petrelli did not approve of Coco Pops as a breakfast cereal. Peter and I (before Gabriel had appeared on the scene – although he helped when he heard about the dilemma) had smuggled in a box every so often, and obviously Nathan had found our hiding place. It had always bugged me when the Coco Pops disappeared in a few days. Now I knew where they had disappeared to.

The guilty expression appeared again. "I thought you were my parents."

He swallowed and blushed. He was so cute when he blushed, something that didn't happen very often. I had to savour the moment, of course.

"Ah," I said, nodding seriously. "Because I really look like them. And sound like them. Thank you very much for that oh-so-wonderful compliment."

You may be wondering why I am so blasé when talking to Nathan. I cannot explain it to you, except to say that I was not usually this sarcastic and...it was early. I am my most awake early in the morning and not even crushes will affect me terribly.

His blush deepened. "That's not...I didn't...I mean..." he stuttered helplessly. Obviously being up this early affected him more than it did me. He took a deep breath. "That's not what I meant." He looked across at me. "I could never mistake you for either of my parents."

I do not know why that simple sentence affected me so, but it did. I caught my breath (thankfully I had nothing in my mouth) in what I thought was a very obvious fashion. But, just like his brother, he noticed nothing. I tried to be as sarcastic as possible in my answer, to cover up for the effect that sentence had had on me. "That is very comforting, Nathan." I don't think it worked.

Since I like to throw myself into murky situations I asked, a while later, "Why do you always do what they want?"

Nathan glanced at me, rather surprised. I doubt anyone had ever asked him that before. He also seemed rather offended. "I don't _always_ do what they want."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, you do." I counted them off on my fingers. "You go to law school because they tell you to." One. "You're becoming a lawyer because they tell you to." Two. "You go to their benefits because they tell you to, even though you'd much rather be watching a movie." Three. "You hide the fact that you eat Coco Pops because they told you not to eat them." Four. "If they wanted you to let New York be blown up just so you could be 'the hero the world needs' you'd do it." This was actually something I'd heard through my eavesdropping. I had dismissed as crazy talk. Which it was. Why would anyone want to blow up New York? Unless you were terrorists or, apparently, Mama and Papa Petrelli.

Nathan gazed down at his, now empty, bowl of Coco Pops. "Okay, what you say is mostly true..."

"Mostly?" I asked.

"Okay, all of what you say is true – except maybe the last one – but that doesn't mean anything. I like what I do." He looked at me defiantly.

I had never heard such a blatant lie before. "Bite your tongue!" I admonished. "You _hate _what you do. Admit it."

Nathan spent fifteen minutes denying that he didn't love what he was studying until finally (and I don't know what made him crack) he said, "Okay, fine. I hate it. I hate studying to be a lawyer. It is boring as hell and...and I'd rather be watching movies."

I smiled. Finally, he admitted it. "So you admit that you're not happy? Or satisfied?"

He smiled back. The butterflies in my stomach started fluttering, as they did whenever he smiled, whether at me or at something else. "Yes, Rachel, I admit it. I am not happy or satisfied. I wish..." He hesitated.

"You wish...?" I prompted, rather a bit too eagerly, I thought.

Obviously he didn't notice. "I wish...I wish that I could open a video store," he said, all in a rush. The expression on his face, half proud, half fearful, told that he had never told anyone what he had just told me.

"Then why don't you?"

He looked surprised for a moment as though he was expecting me to tell him that that was a stupid, unrealistic wish. "I...I don't know. Mom and Dad wouldn't approve..." He trailed off.

"Who cares if they don't approve? You're your own man. You can do whatever the hell you want. If you want to open a video store, then do it. No one's stopping you, except yourself, as clichéd as that sounds. I'll be your first customer, if that helps," I added.

"But _I_ want to be his first customer," Peter said, from the doorway. Nathan and I both looked up to see Peter and Gabriel standing there, both shirtless. What was it with guys and their ability to never have shirts on? Who would I have to thank for that?

"No," Gabriel put in, "_I _want to be his first customer."

"I will be his first customer because I am his brother. So there." Peter poked his tongue out at Gabriel, who had to hide a grin.

Nathan was grinning fit to burst. "You'll all be my first customers, if I ever get it running. You'll probably be my only customers," he added, rather gloomily.

"So what?" I asked. "Peter has a huge allowance and he never tells his parents what he does with it. They'll probably think it went into buying movies. And although Gabriel and I don't have as much we'll use it all for renting movies from your shop, won't we , Gabriel?"

Gabriel nodded seriously.

"And," I added, wagging a warning finger at him. "Don't you start feeling gloomy again. If you do, talk to Peter or Gabriel or me. We'll set you straight."

Peter joined Gabriel in his enthusiastic nod.

Nathan's grin slowly returned. "Well...okay then."

Over the next few days, without telling Mama and Papa Petrelli, Nathan dropped out of law school and, using some of the money his parents had given to the university for his tuition as well as some of his trust fund, he signed himself up for business classes at NYU. With the knowledge he acquired from those classes he eventually opened 'Sylar's' a few months later. I thought it was rather ingenious of Gabriel to get the name off of one of the watches his dad had fixed. You may think that this all went rather fast but once Nathan got started nothing, short of total annihilation, would have stopped him.

When Mama and Papa Petrelli finally found out they were livid. But, for the moment, they could do nothing.


	3. Love Requited

**Chapter Three: Love Requited**

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

Our gang now frequented Sylar's as regularly as we had frequented Peter's TV room. Nathan turned one of the rooms into a TV room where you could view your purchases at a small additional charge. Although we had promised to pay the full amount, since Sylar's appeared to become very popular as time went on, he gave us 'discounts,' which basically meant that he sometimes gave us them for free. Especially if it was something we had been looking for for a long time.

After school one day I decided to pay a visit to Sylar's to see if Nathan had received the movies I had specifically asked for. Gabriel had to help his dad out at the store and Peter had a hell of a lot of homework to get through so I was no use to them. Thus Sylar's was my destination. Plus I hadn't filled my Nathan quota for the day.

He looked up as the bell above the door jingle and smiled when he saw it was me. He bent down and picked a box, placing it on the counter.

"Here they are," he said, thinking the movies I had requested were the only reasons I had ventured into his store without Peter and Gabriel.

I gazed into the box in amazement. Reverentially I picked one of the videos up. "_Mr. Smith Goes To Washington_?" I whispered. "And _The Best Man_?" I added, picking up the one underneath. Then I peered deeper into the box and had to quell a whimper.

I looked up at Nathan. "You didn't." He merely grinned.

He had bought me every season of _Smallville_. Now you understand why I found him absolutely freaking adorable. I gazed at him in apparent adoration. "You," I began, "are my Hero. With a capital H."

He actually blushed and then quickly busied himself with whatever he had been doing before I interrupted.

I gazed awhile at my new videos, stroking them in turns. Yeah, I know, I was – and still am – weird.

"Rachel?"

"Hmm?" I asked, absentmindedly, trying to tear myself away from my new videos. It wasn't that hard. Nathan always won out over movies, even ones I really liked.

He looked so nervous as though he was going to ask me something he thought I wasn't going to like. "Umm...you realise that Peter likes Gabriel...in that way...don't you?"

I blinked. What had that got to do with anything?

"Um, yes. Why?" I asked, stumped for a reason.

He looked relieved. "Oh, never mind."

Then I caught on (boy, am I slow sometimes). "Oh, I don't like Peter _that _way," I said in a rush. "I mean, he's cute and all but...not my type." _You are_, I wanted to add.

It was his turn to blink. "Oh. Okay. Umm...then would you mind...umm...going on a date with me?" he asked, the last part in uncommon haste.

Okay. I had not expected that. He had that look on his face, that look that meant he thought I was going to laugh in his face. It was rather adorable. God, how many times have I used the word 'adorable' to describe Nathan? So many, many times.

"No."

He looked utterly crestfallen. I had to smile. "No, I wouldn't mind going on a date with you," I clarified. And that is why my Mum said I should major in English when I go to university.

I don't know he suddenly seemed to be on my side of the counter and at that point I didn't much care. Especially when he kissed me. Things like that just don't matter when the man you have had a crush on for years kisses you.

It was everything a first kiss should be, and more. It was a rather sweet little kiss at first, as though he was waiting for my response. Once he learnt I wasn't going to slap him he deepened the kiss until I was lost in his mouth on mine.

He pulled away a few minutes later but I was having none of that. "Don't stop," I whispered, before pulling his mouth back onto mine. And I just couldn't resist the Fleetwood Mac reference.

I told Peter about kissing Nathan and he was quiet for a very long time. I was suddenly apprehensive, thinking he didn't approve (not that that would have stopped me from kissing Nathan), and asked, "You don't...mind, do you?"

He jumped a little as though he had been lost in his own little dream world. "What?" he asked, confused, then his ears caught up with his brain. "Oh! No! Why would I mind?"

"You seemed a bit quiet there for a moment, that's all," I replied, feeling relieved.

Peter, who was never very good at hiding his feelings or lying for that matter, looked shifty. "Oh? Was I?"

Okay, now I was intrigued. "Yes. You were." I narrowed my eyes at him. "You didn't have a ton of homework, did you?"

Peter's shiftiness increased. My eyes widened of their own accord. "You went to see Gabriel!"

As Peter began to blush a bright crimson I continued with, "You kissed him, didn't you?"

Peter nodded slightly. I waited with bated breath but he said nothing. "And?" I prompted.

He squirmed under my eye. "And...nothing."

"_Nothing_? What do you mean '_nothing_'?" I exclaimed, actually enraged on behalf of my friend.

"Wait." I eyed him suspiciously. "You ran, didn't you?"

Peter seemed to be disappearing into his chair as we spoke. I took that as a sign that I was right. "And why exactly did you do that, you idiot?" Sometimes I really did not understand boys.

Finally Peter spoke, although very quickly. "Because...because what if he didn't like me that way? What if I ruined our entire friendship? What if..."

At that point I interrupted. Being the expert I am on unrequited love I had every right to. "And what if he does like you that way? What then? What must he be thinking? You ambush him with a kiss...and then run away? Hmm? What then?"

Peter couldn't answer. Thankfully at that moment there was a knock at the door.

"Rachel? Gabriel's here!" my Mum yelled on the other side of the door. Although I could hear her perfectly well if she spoke in a normal voice she insisted on yelling. I do not know why.

Peter looked absolutely petrified so I took pity on him.

"I'm coming!" I yelled back, and then turned to Peter. "You," I said, pointing at him. "Stay." I didn't think he was going anywhere but you can never be too sure.

Gabriel was waiting for me in the kitchen. My parents absolutely loved him. I think my Mum even had a bit of a crush on him, although it only showed when she was talking to me.

"Hey," I greeted him, because I couldn't think of anything to say. He merely nodded.

There was silence in the kitchen for a moment until Gabriel asked, "Is Peter here?"

Because it was very hard to lie to Gabriel Gray I merely said, "Yup."

An expression appeared on his face that I had never seen there before. "Umm...so he probably told you what...happened?" Oh god! Gabriel Gray, always-cool, intense-eyed Gabriel Gray was nervous. And was that a smidge of embarrassment I detected?

I settled for, "Yup."

Since he didn't appear to have anything else to say I decided to help him. "So...did you like...what he did?"

Another expression I had never seen before appeared. "Yes," he murmured dreamily.

"He's in my room if you want to talk to him," I added, just in case he hadn't seen the huge grin adorning my face. Gabriel, after an initial pause, left for my room.

After awhile Mum came into the kitchen. "What was all that about?" she asked.

"My two best friends in the whole world are sucking face at this very moment," I said with importance. "Well, hopefully." Because sometimes you cannot count on boys to do what they should do.

Mum was surprised, to say the least. "Peter...and Gabriel?"

Dad said, as he entered, "Yeah, didn't you guess?"

Mum gave him an accusatory glare. "You knew? And you didn't tell me?"

Dad had the grace to look ashamed. "Sorry. But it was sort of obvious." I must have inherited my slowness from Mum. I decided then not to tell Mum about being kissed by Nathan. At least, not until she had gotten over the shock of Peter and Gabriel.

That didn't actually seem to take long. When Peter and Gabriel finally came downstairs, trying to keep the identical grins off of their faces, Mum invited them to dinner as though it was what she had been planning to do all along. Which it probably had.

I broke the news about my kiss with Nathan when we were doing the dishes. Peter, Gabriel and Dad were watching TV. Peter had commandeered the remote so it was probably reruns of _Gilmore Girls_ or something. Dad thought Lauren Graham was hot was he probably wouldn't mind.

Mum was overjoyed. I was slightly overwhelmed by how overjoyed she was. She kept hugging me and bouncing up and down while doing so, and then stopping and looking at me. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. Sometimes I did not understand my own mother.

"So?" she asked, slightly out of breath. "Does this mean you're dating?"

"Yes...I mean he asked me out on a date before he kissed so...I guess so." I gazed up into Mum's face. "Mum, why exactly are you so excited?" I asked, to forestall another bounce session.

It turns out that Mum (unlike Dad) had always suspected I had a crush on Nathan. Plus, according to her, any guy who can sit through _The Philadelphia Story_ twenty times is good enough for her daughter. That is, she said, what had made her pick Dad in the first place. Also because he was adorable when he blushed. I had never seen this adorability but decided to take her word for it.

Dating Nathan was different from merely being his friend. Apart from the obvious, like being able to kiss him whenever I wanted, it was different because he liked to surprise me. He rarely told me anything of what he was planning for our dates no matter how much I bugged him. And that dates were always worth his aggravating silences.

Like one time he gave me a special screening of _Blonde Ambition_ in the Viewing Room and actually sat through the whole thing with me, even though I knew he had never liked the movie. Or when he borrowed the Petrelli jet plane and took me to San Francisco where we watched the sun go down on the Golden Gate Bridge. Or when he flew me to Texas and paid for riding lessons.

Of course he wasn't the only one giving things. That part of dating I had never really understood. The guy does everything to please the girl – but what does the girl do? Just sit there and look pretty? No way, not me.

One time I bought him a kitten. He had told me once that he had always wanted a cat but because his mother was allergic (I _knew _there was something I didn't like about her) the Petrellis had never had one. He called the cat Hunter, because he was always chasing after his tail and various bits of fluff.

And then, on one of the rare occasions when I took him out on a date, I surprised him by taking him to a concert where one of his favourite bands, XTC, was playing. When they began to play 'Then She Appeared' he took me in his arms and kissed me very deeply and then as the song played he whispered the words in my ear.

Of course I wasn't the only who was sublimely happy at that time. Peter was enjoying his time with Gabriel. They spent most of their time together, whether pretending to do their homework or pretending to watch a movie in the TV room.

Just as Mum had never caught onto the fact that Peter and Gabriel liked each other neither did Mama and Papa Petrelli. When they found out that not only was I dating Nathan but that I was also the person who had convinced him that he should quit law school, they were (to put it as mildly as possible) furious. Of course I didn't know any of this until much later but it was around this time that they began to formulate a plan to get rid of me and get Nathan back on track.

On the day of my eighteenth birthday Nathan told me he had a surprise waiting for me at the store and that I should come around at eight. I had already realised that I could get nothing out of him when he wanted to surprise me and just agreed.

When I arrived Nathan ushered me upstairs where he had cooked a meal for me. Macaroni and cheese, my favourite. It was delicious but over far too quickly. He sat me down on the sofa afterwards and put _Shop Around The Corner_ on to distract me while he did the dishes. He knew me too well.

About a quarter of the way into the movie Nathan joined me. He put his arm around me and watched the rest of the movie with me. _Shop Around The Corner _ was actually one of the movies we both liked. Because we're both Jimmy Stewart fans, I guess.

At the end of the movie I had no time to glance at the clock and notice the lateness of the hour because Nathan chose that moment to kiss me very passionately. I was lost.

He broke the kiss too soon, by my mind. He then got down on his knees in front of me. The Famous Slowness struck again because I didn't click (of course, it could have been the daze left over from Nathan's kiss).

"Rachel?" he said, very seriously.

"Yes, Nathan?" I replied, going along with whatever he was doing.

"Will you marry me?"

I said yes before what I really understood what he had just asked. And then what he had asked me sunk in. He wanted to marry me. Nathan Petrelli wanted to marry me.

And I had said yes. Because (for goodness sake, people, catch up) I wanted to marry him.

"Rachel, are you alright?" he asked after a long kissing session. A panicked expression replaced the happy one. "You _do _want to me marry me...don't you?"

I smiled because frankly whenever Nathan showed the slightest (what his parents would call) weakness he was so bloody adorable I could never resist.

"Yes, Nathan," I replied, wrapping my arms around his neck. "My answer will always be yes."

He slipped the engagement ring on about then, I think. Of course, I wasn't paying much attention, distracted as I was by his oh-so-cute serious expression.

"So, this was my surprise?" I asked.

"Well..." Nathan said in a tone I'd never heard him use before. "Not _all _of it."

He kissed me. Quite passionately, in fact.


	4. In Love And Death

**Chapter Four: In Love And Death**

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

He picked me up in his arms and took me down the hallway to his bedroom. And...well, here you can use your imagination because I am certainly not going to describe what happened next.

If it is at all possible I was happier than I had even been after that night. Everything seemed to go right. My exam results came back and I had aced every one of them, even the ones I was sure I was going to fail. Peter and Gabriel were going strong, although keeping their relationship low key. Even Mama and Papa Petrelli seemed to have gotten used to our relationship.

And Nathan? He was as adroable as ever.

When I began to vomit every morning I simply thought I was coming down with the flu. After all Nathan had used a condom. Mum decided to check, just in case, and bought at least three different types of pregnancy tests. They all said the same thing: positive.

I tried to tell Nathan but he was always busy so one day, in front of Gabriel, Peter and at least three other customers, I said for all the world to hear that I was pregnant.

Nathan was, understandably, stunned. That didn't last long, though. Before I knew what was happening he had picked me up and spinning me around, laughing. Needless to say I was very happy with his reaction, and also needed to go to the bathroom afterwards. Pregnancy isn't kind to spinning.

Peter, Gabriel and those three customers congratulated Nathan while I was in the bathroom and the three customers actually stayed to congratulate me once I had return from my bathroom trip.

About a month later Angela asked if she could speak to me privately. I was at Peter's, watching _Blonde Ambition _for the hundredth time and, because she seemed to have mellowed abit, I said yes.

She drew me into one of the many living rooms and motioned me to a nearby sofa. We sat in silence for a moment as we sized each other up. At least, I think that was what we were doing. Certainly she stared at me for a long time.

I was about to aske her whether I could leave, since no matter how many times I see _Blonde Ambition_ it never loses its charms, when she spoke.

"Do you know why you're here?"

Since I didn't think Angela had pulled me into the living room to chat about the meaning of life I said, "Ah, no."

She smiled. It was a rather sad smile. "I'm here to warn you."

"About what?" I prompted, since she seemed to want a response.

Apparently I had given the right one because she continued. "Your relationship with Nathan has affect him – and the plans we have for him – in many ways. You are becoming a liability and need to be taken care of. My husband...well, let's just say you don't want to know what he wants to do. Because I think you are a very sensible girl I have taken it upon myself to reason with you."

As she said this I went through a variety of emotions. At first, as always, I was a bit slow on the uptake. Then I got angry. Okay, maybe there wasn't _that _much variety. I knew what she was leading up to: she wanted me to leave Nathan. Otherwise something horrible would happen to me. I was starting to feel like a character in a movie; you know, they pay off the lover so that their offspring will not be distracted from their studies/tennis career/etc, although usually my part is played a guy.

She sounded so reasonable as though everything was inevitable. It infuriated me as that sort of attitude always does.

I stood up, because a) it gave me some height over her (not that that was a problem) and b) I could walk away more quickly.

"How dare you?" I asked in a very quiet deadly tone, I think. "Who do you think you are, to ask – no, tell me to leave me?"

She opened her mouth to saying something but I gave her no opportunity. "I don't give a fuck about your stupid plans for him. And I certainly don't give a fuck what you throw my way. You," I added, taking a leaf out of Cecilia and Buffy's books, "are beneath me."

I was in the process of walking out of the door (and probably out of the house) when she said, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

I paused for a second beside the door then left. I felt very empowered as I did, as though I had accomplished something by standing up to Angela. But as I walked down the streets leading to Sylar's another emotion overtook me: fear.

I had heard the rumours about Papa Petrelli, that he was somehow connected to the mob. I had dismissed it because it didn't really matter whether he was or not. What if they were true? I was so screwed if they were.

I told Nathan about my conversation with his mother once I arrived. There were only two other people in the store so he merely pulled me behind the counter as I did.

He didn't laugh at my fears. In fact, he got that serious expression on his face which meant that he was trying very hard not to show his anger. Nathan rarely got angry, or lost his temper, but when he did...well, let me just say you wouldn't want to be around when that happened.

He managed to calm me down a bit, although I could tell he was going to have a serious talk with his father. I left, not exactly smiling but on my way there.

And then, just a few seconds from the door, I felt a pain in my chest. I grimaced and pressed my hand to the spot. It came away covered in blood. On top of my slowness I am also slightly deaf at times. I know this because Nathan, and the other two customers, had come rushing out just seconds after I felt that pain in my chest.

I turned to look at Nathan and, like a child with something it does not understand, showed him my bloody hand. His expression as I did so was twisted as though he was the one in pain.

I felt myself falling backwards. Thankfully Nathan caught me otherwise I would be adding a cracked skull to my list of complaints.

"Nathan?" I whispered because somehow I couldn't get my voice to go nay higher. "What's happening?"

He choked. His eyes appeared to have gotten wet. "Still as slow as ever, Rachel." He hesitated then decided to tell me. "You've been shot."

I processed this information as I heard one of the customers call 911 and talk to the person on the other end. "I've been shot." I repeated it just to see how it would sound on my lips. Not very nice sounding at all.

I started to cry and, in the process, panic. "Nathan, don't let me die. Please, Nathan, don't let me die. I can't die, Nathan. Nathan, please," I sobbed in his arms. How could everything change so much in just a few minutes?

He was crying too. "Stay with me, Rachel. I won't let you die, I promise. You won't die. You won't die." He began repeating this like some sort of mantra, as though if he said it enough times it would become true. He rocked me gently in his arms.

After a few minutes, in which the customer who had called 911 told us the ambulance would be here as soon as possible, a sort of calm came over me. I was going to die. It was as simple as that. I stopped crying and, taking Nathan's head in my hands, made him look me in the eye.

"Nathan," I said seriously, enunciating every word. "I will always love you." I took a deep breath. "And my answer will always be yes."

I tried to take another breath but something was preventing me, as though there was something sitting on my chest cutting off my air supply.

Nathan kept saying, "Stay with me, Rachel, stay with me," over and over again. But repeating this rarely makes them come true, unless you're Dorothy Gail and 'there is no place like home.'

I stopped breathing as the ambulance pulled up on the curb. Although they did everything they could, I died at 2:41pm exactly.

They never caught whoever shot me. But I knew who was behind it. And so did Nathan.


	5. Intermission

**Intermission**

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

Nathan never truly recovered after my death and he never forgave his parents. After a month he gave up Sylar's and returned to law school. He became one of the assistant district attorneys of New York and, eventually, graduated to politics.

He had numerous affairs, one with a woman named Meredith. She also had numerous affairs, one in particular (which occurred around the same time) with a man named Adam Munroe. When Meredith gave birth to baby girl nine months later, both men having left her, she wanted to know who the father was so she had a paternity test. The baby turned out to be Adam Munroe's.

Nathan eventually married. Her name was Heidi. They had two boys together.

Peter and Gabriel grew apart. Once Gabriel realised what had happened he decided to leave Peter, just in case Papa Petrelli took it into his head that he might as well kill the 'disappointment.' After all he had killed me. What was stopping him from killing Peter?

They never forgot each other.

When Arthur lay in front of Nathan, dying, he had a moment where he thought that he would just let him die. But he didn't because he didn't want to become his father. He couldn't help but feel relieved when he heard that his father was dead.

Peter, Gabriel and Nathan discovered they had powers and the events leading up to the confrontation in Kirby Plaza, where Peter nearly blew up half of New York and only Nathan's timely reappearance stopped that from happening, you have already heard about, possibly in the newspapers.

After blowing up and then healing himself Peter flew Nathan, burnt almost to a crisp, to a nearby hospital. He stayed by his side all the way through, even using some blood from a certain cheerleader, to heal some of his wounds.

Gabriel, after being stabbed by an angry Japanese boy-man, escaped via the sewers, to lick his wounds and rethink many of his previous ideas.


	6. Super Dead

**Chapter Five: Super Dead**

__________________________________________________________________________________

"Guys, I don't think we should be doing this."

"Zack, this diamond ring is worth millions – even billions – of dollars so we are doing this whatever you say."

"Lyle, this is _wrong_. Don't you think it's wrong, Greg?"

"No."

"Okay, Zack. This is getting old fast. You are going to retrieve the ring. No arguing."

Zack looked down at the open grave and the corpse inside. Its flesh had rotted away until it was little more than a skeleton. He took a steadying breath and jumped down.

As he reached out towards the diamond ring on one of the corpse's rotting fingers, he hesitated. "Guys..." he began only to be interrupted by Lyle who said, "No arguing."

Zack sighed petulantly, reached down and grabbed the finger the diamond ring nestled on. There was a burst of bright light and the only thing Zack could think to say was, "Oh shit."

I sat up suddenly, gasping for air, feeling myself...rejuvenate. I held my hands up in front of my face and watched as the muscles, and later the flesh, regrew. It was a fascinating process, let me tell you. And rather nauseating.

Then I noticed, belatedly (apparently death didn't affect that Famous Slowness of mine), that a boy was standing over me, a very shocked expression on his face. I glanced behind him to see another boy and a very grizzled looking man peering down into the grave, with that same shocked expression on their faces.

Since they didn't appear to be about to say anything enlightening I touched my hair to see if it was all there. It was. It was longer than it had been, but that was to be expected. As were the overlong fingernails. I gazed at them, frowning.

I don't know why I did it. I flicked one of my fingernails. It broke off immediately. I repeated the process with all of my fingernails until they were as short as they had been. I did not try that experiment on my hair.

That done I glanced back up at the three gaping males above me. They had not moved an inch. I was rather impressed.

Then it hit me all that once. I remembered...everything. My life in New Zealand...my parents...my friendship with Peter...with Gabriel...my crush on Nathan...Nathan's proposal...my unexpected but absolutely thrilling pregnancy...At that point I put my hand on my stomach as though doing that would somehow give me a clue as to whether my baby was alive.

The respite didn't last long. I remembered...my conversation with Angela...my fear...the pain in my chest, as though someone had ripped out my heart...Nathan, crying and saying, "Stay with me, Rachel, stay with me," over and over again...dying...

Tears spilled out before I could contain them. I glared up at the three stunned males above me. I stood up and grabbed the boy nearest me so fast the other two had no time to react.

"What have you done to me? What have you done to me?" I shouted at him angrily, feeling the tears run down my face. I shook him hard, harder than I meant to. I felt so angry. I could feel it boiling over until I could no longer contain it.

With an animal scream I threw the boy out of the grave. I felt him hit the ground with a sickening crunch. My anger left me.

I jumped out of the grave, barely giving a thought to how easy it had been, and bent to examine the boy. The other two merely stared at me, their mouths wide open. They would be no help.

"Are you alright?" I asked, all concern now.

He grinned shakily up at me. "Yeah. I think I'm just...in shock." He tried to sit up and grimaced. Apparently he was not as alright as he had claimed.

"I'm so sorry..." I groped for words. "I...was just so angry and...I didn't think."

The boy smiled. "Well, we were trying to rob you...so I guess I deserved it."

I blinked. "Rob me? Of what?"

"Your ring." This was the other boy, who seemed to have found his voice at last.

I looked down at said ring. It was the engagement ring Nathan had given me. I barely remembered him putting it on. Some instinct made me place my other hand over it protectively.

There was a silence, broken only seconds later by the grizzled man. "So, Zack," he said, putting his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. Well, it was pretty cold. "Why didn't you tell us you had a power?"

"I...didn't know I had one." The boy I had manhandled, whose name appeared to be Zack, gingerly got to his feet. I followed suit, trying to apologise a second time. He waved my apology away.

All three of them looked at me.

I tried to begin a conversation but, never having been good at that sort of thing before, faulted before I had even started. "So..." I began and then waited for someone to fill in the blank. No one did.

They eventually took me with them to their place of residence, a very large four bedroom apartment, complete with kitchen, bathroom and laundry. I had a feeling they had robbed quite a few graves to pay for this place.

I fell on the bed they gave me with a sigh. It made an ominous creaking sound then promptly broke in half. The other three were very interested in this and, although we were all tired, kept me up half the night testing me.

It turns out that when Zack brought me back to life I came back...changed. Obviously I thought of Buffy. But it was different from that. I was stronger, more agile. Although I couldn't see through walls I could see the bacteria in the mould behind the toilet. And I could hear...things. Not beasts in the night or something rubbish like that. No, it was more like I could hear something that happened miles away. My sense of smell had heightened as well. That was not pleasant.

Although I was fascinated by what had happened to me somehow I couldn't express it. I know this is going to sound very clichéd but...some part of me was missing and I had a feeling it was my heart.

Greg and I put Zack and Lyle, who had fallen asleep due to pure exhaustion, to bed. All Greg did was look at me a certain way and I was spilling my guts, so to speak. He started a little when he heard me mention Peter Petrelli but other than that made no sound.

When I had finished he was silent for a moment. Then he walked over to the rubbish bin and picked out a newspaper. Without a word he gave it to me.

On the front page was Nathan, doing that presidential wave that, for some reason, all politicians end up doing. The article below said that Nathan Petrelli, former assistant district attorney, was running for Senator. He was supported in his campaign by his wife, Heidi, and their two sons as well as by his mother, Angela Petrelli. Sadly his father, Arthur Petrelli, had died of a heart attack a few months back. His younger brother, Peter Petrelli, a former hospice nurse, was in hospital due to his most recent attempt at suicide.

I gazed at the article through tear filled eyes. I took a wobbly breath. "How could this have happened? How could they...change so much?" I glanced up at Greg, who was gazing at me with pity his eyes.

"You died." He sighed. "I suppose you were the glue that kept them together. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?"

"No." I sniffed and wiped my eyes on my sleeve. "No, it doesn't."

"Thought not." He stayed for a moment and, when it became clear I was not going to say anything, left for his unbroken bed.

As soon as he had gone I burst into tears. I sobbed as though my heart was actually inside me instead of on the floor in pieces. I cried myself to sleep but not until I had promised myself that I would right the wrongs that my death had caused. I fell asleep in the kitchen , muttering that to myself.

Thus I woke, cramped and aching, on the floor, surrounding by broken bits of chair. I allowed myself a few curses to express at least some of the anger boiling inside me.

The others didn't seem to be awake as yet so I walked out in search of the hospital Peter was staying at for observation. I wondered what had happened to Gabriel and if he and Peter were still together. Knowing the luck that had been dogging them, I'd say not.

It was surprisingly easy getting into his hospital room. I just said I was his cousin and they, for some reason, believed me. Maybe I looked trustworthy. I was shown into his room and left alone with him.

I sat down gently on the edge of the hospital bed and gazed down at him. He had always looked so vulnerable when he was asleep and that, at least, had not changed. He was still as cute as ever, too.

Maybe he had felt me sit down for it wasn't long before he turned towards me and mutter, "Nathan? Is that you?"

I said, "No," and it was as though he'd been given an electric shock. His eyes wide, he tried to sit up only to get tangled in the tubing surrounding him.

"_Rachel_?" He seemed very shocked. "Is that – it can't be...Rachel? Is it really you?" He shook his head as though to shake it of all its weird ideas. "You're dead. You can't be here." He started muttering to himself, things along the line of "They can't be right" and "I'm not going mad."

I took his hand in mine, which immediately shut him up. "You're not crazy, Peter," I said, looking him in the eye. "I was dead." I took a deep breath. "And now...I'm not."

Peter, still very pale, gazed down at my hand. "I'll say," he murmured, a tone of wonder entering his voice. He looked up at me. "How..."

I smiled wryly. "Let's just say...a miracle."

"Peter, they said a cousin of ours was here to see you..." Nathan came marching in, purposeful like, and my heart skipped a beat. So, it was there after all. He spluttered to a halt when he saw me and went as pale as Peter had. In fact, if I had seen him on an autopsy table I would have sworn he was dead.

I stood up. He hadn't really changed. Oh, he had aged but the old Nathan was still there, somewhere underneath. I still found him utterly adorable. And yet...he was different. I doubted he had seen a movie in years. I wondered what had happened to Sylar's, if it was still there.

"Nathan," I said, when it appeared that he had nothing to say.

He took a few halting steps into the room and actually reached out a hand to touch my face, just in case I was a figment of his imagination. I sighed at his touch, and he sighed with me.

"Rachel..." he whispered. "You're alive."

"Nathan, is Peter alright? Who was that cousin?" As the dark haired wheelchair bound woman entered the room Nathan quickly removed his hand from my cheek. I tried not to grab it back.

"Heidi," Peter said, saving Nathan from answering. "This is Rachel. We went to school together. When she heard what happened to me she rushed straight over."

I took over. "I'm really sorry of what I said I was caused any alarm it's just that I hadn't seen Peter in a long time and...well...I wanted to see," I finished, rather lamely to my mind.

Although not to Heidi, it seemed. She smiled on hearing how much I had wanted to see Peter and probably thought Peter and I had been involved. She managed to drag Nathan away so that Peter and I could have a 'nice chat.' She probably thought I would do him some good.

I stood for a moment beside the bed and then gently lowered myself back to my sitting position. "So...did you really commit suicide?" I asked, deciding to just go straight to the heart of the matter.

He told me what had happened to him, and I wasn't surprised to hear that Angela had had something to do with him being in hospital. When Peter described 'Claude Rains,' the man who had helped him control his powers, I had to smile. So that was why Greg had started when I had mentioned Peter. What a small world we do live in.

I was not surprised to hear that Peter had a power. It seemed inevitable somehow. He also insisted that Nathan could fly. Somehow that didn't shock me either. I suppose, once you've been brought back from the dead nothing can shock.

Except, in appears, the completely unexpected. When I asked Peter about Gabriel he went very quiet. He eventually told me that Gabriel, unlike we had both thought, didn't love him. That he had only been using him. I had a feeling that that was the whole story there. Gabriel always had his reasons.

However, the next part was what shocked me. Gabriel had adopted the name Sylar (how ironic was that?) and become a serial killer, murdering people for their abilities, which, it appeared, he could collect as easily as bug collector collected bugs. I wondered how quiet, intense Gabriel had become a serial killer.

Everything had changed, as though I'd never been. Nathan was as completely under his parents' (even if one of them was now dead) thumb as though I'd never interfered. Peter had tried to become something else and had been shot down time and time again. Gabriel had become a serial killer.

"What next?" I asked, trying to hold back a sob. "That plan about blowing up half of New York is true?"

Peter looked surprised at my knowledge. I gave a half laugh. Things just kept getting better and better.

"It is, you know," Peter said seriously. "I think they've already got Nathan on their side."

I began to laugh. I remembered the conversation Nathan and I had had, when he had said that he would never do such a thing. And look at him now. Had he completely forgotten me?

Then I remembered the way he'd looked at me, and I stopped laughing. He hadn't.

Peter was gazing at me worriedly. He patted my hand consolingly. "It's alright. You get used to the fucked up way things have turned out."

I almost stopped breathing. "Why?" I gasped out, my throat suddenly raw. "Why should we get used to it? Why can't everything go back to the way it had been? Why?"

"Because...it can't, Rachel," Peter said quietly. "It just can't."


	7. Changing The World

**Chapter Six: Changing The World**

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

I left Peter to his depressed thoughts and went to see my parents. I took a deep breath before I knocked, mentally preparing myself for what awaited me. After all, I had been dead for a while. My showing up out of the blue like this would naturally be quite a shock.

Mum opened the door. She went pale at the sight of me. We stood there, staring at each other silently. All of a sudden Mum gave a chocked up cry and threw her arms around me. I buried myself into her, as though no time had passed.

She whispered into my hair, "You're alive. He was telling the truth. You're alive."

I wondered who 'he' was and a moment later received my answer when Nathan stepped out of the living room into the entrance hall where we were standing. He looked very uncomfortable, even when I tried to reassure him by smiling.

He cleared his throat and Mum reluctantly withdrew her attentions. She laughed shakily and wiped her tears from her eyes. Dad came out at that moment, hesitant until he saw me. Then his whole face changed. It was as though the sun had risen on his face. He smiled joyfully and pulled Mum and me into a bear hug.

The next few minutes were taken up with examinations of my person and exclamations of wonder until Dad noticed Nathan standing in the doorway looking as though he wanted to be as far away from the scene in front of him as possible. He ushered Mum into the kitchen, and it was only with covert glances at Nathan that he was finally able to persuade her to come with him without a fuss.

I opened my mouth to say something – anything – when he strode over to me and kissed me deeply. I didn't think; all I did was kiss me back as passionately as he was kissing me. I lost myself and felt whole for the first time in long time. If that makes any sense.

I broke the kiss when I realised what we were doing. After all, he was married. And she had seemed very nice. Even if she had gotten the wrong idea about Peter and I.

I tried not to cry as I did. "Nathan," I said. "We can't. You're married." I felt my lip quiver at that thought. He was married...and it wasn't to me.

He noticed my quivering lip and brushed it softly with his finger. He looked at me as though for the first time. I don't think he had actually heard me. "Rachel..." he whispered then pressed his mouth to mine. And I let him.

I started to cry. Nathan broke the kiss when he felt the wetness on my cheeks. He gazed down at me, his eyebrow quirked slightly.

I couldn't stop crying. Through my sobbing I managed to say, "Nathan, we can't. You're married."

This time he seemed to hear me. He looked utterly devastated by the news, as though he hadn't been married for some years now. He thrust his hands into his pockets just in case they developed minds of their own.

"I've...missed you," he said lamely as though that wasn't evident.

I felt one last tear run down my cheek. "Nathan..." I took a deep breath. "You remember what I said, right? Before I...died?"

"Yes," he said promptly.

"I meant every word."

He stood, just a few inches away from me, and then left.

Between visits with Peter (first at the hospital and then later at his apartment), visits with my parents and with Zack, Lyle and Greg I tried to find Gabriel. But he seemed to have fallen off the face of the map. The last time anyone had seen him was months ago, when he had been managing a watch making store.

Having exhausted that avenue of thought I decided to go and pay a visit to Angela. She still lived in the Petrelli mansion. Since I had been to the Petrelli mansion so many times I didn't use the front door. Instead I used one of our gang's many 'secret' entrances. Thus Angela was very surprised when I entered the room, which I have to admit gave me the first warm feeling I had had since I saw Mum and Dad.

"Surprised to see me?" I said nonchalantly. "I'm amazed that you haven't heard about my miraculous resurrection from one of your lackeys. You're getting very lax, if you haven't." I picked up a chocolate cookie from the platter in front of her and began munching on it.

She pulled herself together surprisingly fast. "I merely wondered how you had got inside," she murmured, trying to be as nonchalant as I was. She failed quite miserably.

"Right. Sure. I'll buy that. So, the reason I'm here," I said, cutting to the chase. I picked her up by the lapels of her blouse and gazed deep into her eyes. She was amazed at my strength, I could tell. I smiled.

"Why didn't you stop it, you bitch?" I hissed in her face. She tried to say something but I interrupted. "Oh yes," I added scathingly. "You _warned _me. Fat lot of good warning people ever does. You could have stopped it. If you'd made just the slightest bit of effort."

I gazed at her for a moment and then dropped her. She fell into a graceless lump on the floor. I kept my gaze on her. "You know, I was right." I snorted. "You _are _beneath me."

I turned to go. She said rather dreamily, "I killed him, you know."

I paused in the doorway and then turned back to her. "What?"

She gazed up at me. "Arthur. I killed him."

Okay, I had to admit I was shocked. "Why?"

She leaned back into the sofa. "I could deal with your death, even if it killed Nathan. But when he conspired to kill his own son...well, that was the last straw. So...I killed him."

I gaped at her, then swallowed. "Which son?"

She gazed back at me steadily. "Nathan."

I couldn't speak for a few moments. I had never hated anyone so much as I did in that moment. If Arthur Petrelli had not been dead I would have killed him and felt no remorse. He had had me killed in order to fulfil a plan he had for Nathan. Then he tried to kill Nathan.

I turned my attention back to Angela, who was speaking. "...that's why his wife's in a wheelchair. The accident was supposed to kill them both. Instead it put her in a wheelchair."

I looked at her for a moment and as the seconds stretched to minutes I saw Angela become slightly fearful. I finally spoke. "Although I do hate you, Angela, and wish you would drop dead right now from some very painful disease I can't help but thank you."

She was very surprised at that. I continued. "You finally did something right, by killing Arthur." As her expression changed to one of relief I said, "But if you _ever _interfere in my life – or Nathan's or Peter's or anyone's for that matter – I will hunt you down and gut you like the worthless carcass you are."

That finally out of my system I left, smiling. I wondered if I had been too harsh...nah!

I stayed with Mum and Dad during all of this. Nathan came to visit me a few days after our last meeting. This was after my 'meeting' with his mother so at first I thought he was here for that. It turned out that, no, he wasn't. In fact he hadn't spoken to his mother in weeks.

"Actually, I'm here because...I can't stand not having you in my life. Not now that you are actually alive." He let out his breath slowly and gazed at me from beneath his eyelashes.

I didn't really know how to respond. I hesitated then asked, "Does that mean you want to be friends?"

"Actually...yes." He thrust his hands into his pockets. "If you wouldn't mind."

I thought about that for a moment. I thought about having Nathan in my life, albeit in a diminished capacity, versus not having him in my life at all. The answer appeared obvious after I looked at it that way.

"Okay." He seemed rather surprised but decided not to question it. A few minutes of small talk later he left.

I didn't really know what to expect from my new friendship with Nathan. I decided to just let it run its course. I didn't think I'd ever see him again.

Thus I was surprised when, of all people, Heidi rang me. She asked me if I wouldn't mind looking after the boys one night while she and Nathan went to a benefit. I immediately thought of that night, years ago, when Nathan had helped me with my key problem. I had to hold my tears back long enough to tell her that I would be delighted. Then I sobbed into my pillow through the night.

When I went to their house – or, rather, mansion – Nathan was the one to open the door. He seemed cheerful enough. I tried to keep as cheerful a disposition until he and Heidi had left. I as then left alone with the boys.

Simon and Monty looked at me. I looked at them. I wondered if they liked to watch any TV. I was about to ask them when Simon bet me to the punch.

"Do you watch _Smallville_?" he asked and Monty looked very attentive.

"Why, yes, I do," I replied. "Your father once bought me the entire seven seasons."

Monty piped up with, "They've made another two seasons since then. Do you want to watch them?"

I grinned. This was going to be more fun and I had thought. "I would be delighted."

Once they realised I was as much a _Smallville_ geek as they were I was their first pick as babysitter whenever Nathan and Heidi had something to go to. They were good boys, as obsessed with TV and movies as Peter and I had been. And we'd been older than they were. Sometimes Peter came and joined us on our movie/TV nights but more often he was too busy with whatever he was involved in. Something to do with saving some blonde cheerleader in Texas. Or something.

I still searched for Gabriel. I found no trace of him.

I got to know Heidi well. She was actually as nice as I had thought she was, although not someone I thought Nathan would ever be attracted to. I thought maybe his parents had something to do with him marrying her.

My friendship with Nathan progressed, neither slowly nor too fast. We were in new waters, after all. Sometimes I couldn't help but think how things could have been if Arthur hadn't interfered. Of course then I would have to find the nearest tissue box.

One day I finally thought to look up Gabriel's parents. His mother was right here in New York so I decided to go and see her just in case she had heard from him. I found her on the floor of her apartment, a picture of a mushroom cloud drawn around her in her own blood. I called the police immediately and then left.

But not without seeing a pair of glasses lying next to her body. I knew they were Gabriel's like a normal person knows they have to breathe to live. I tried not to think about Gabriel, quiet intense Gabriel, being a serial killer. And why kill his own mother? But then, I had met her once. She was so mousy and she collected snow globes for some mad reason. Not that that was any reason to kill her.

But she was always going on at Gabriel – she even did it while we were there – about how proud she was, that he was made such powerful friends. As though Peter and I had any say in what our parents did. Somehow I knew she thought he could be anything he wanted to be. Now, this sounds nice but what she wanted him to be was special. As though he wasn't special to begin with.

I had noticed that Peter seemed to have caught this unusual disease of thought. Somehow he thought that, without his powers, he wasn't special. As though having powers made you special, made you superior to others. I had seen what Lyle – someone with absolutely no powers – had done. I found out that he was the one who brought Zack and Greg – and, to some extent, a girl in New Orleans called Monica – together. And I also discovered that they didn't just rob graves. That was only their way of paying what they needed to pay. What they really did was extraordinary. And no one knew about it.

Life continued like this until one day Nathan showed up on my doorstep in a complete panic.


	8. Blood

**Chapter Seven: Blood**

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

Nathan looked as I had never seen him before. He paced up and down the living room floor as I watched warily. He ran his fingers through his hair (DO NOT GO THERE, RACHEL!) frequently. Finally he turned to me and opened his mouth...too bad nothing came out of it.

"What is it, Nathan?" I asked, deciding to cut to the chase.

He took a deep breath and began. "You remember Linderman, right?"

I nodded. How could I forget? That white haired freak who always seemed to be conspiring with Arthur and Angela. I rarely trusted their friends, who were as mental as they were. Except that nice Charles Deveaux man. Peter doesn't remember him (mostly because, unlike me, he did not eavesdrop on his parents' private conversations) but I do. He was the only one to catch me eavesdropping and had been kind enough not to mention it. That put him in my good books.

Supposedly Peter had him as one of his patients before he quit his job as a hospice nurse to concentrate on 'saving the world.' Apparently, according to Greg, he also developed a crush on Mr. Deveaux's daughter, Simone. Being the wonderful man he is Greg had tried to point out to Peter that she was just not right for him. But would he listen? Not Peter.

Nathan had to take another breath before continuing. "He healed Heidi."

I blinked. So the white haired freak could heal. Never really got that vibe off of him. "Wait," I said, actually catching on. "You mean...she can walk now?"

He nodded. It was my time to take a deep breath. "So what does that mean?"

Before he could answer I broke in with, "Oh! I get it! He's trying to blackmail you. Get you all cosy – I mean, after all what bad could a healer do? – and then wham! He hits you with the I-did-something-for-you-now-you-owe-me mumbo jumbo."

Nathan nodded. "Yes. Now he wants me to leave New York and let Peter blow up half of it."

"But you're not going along with it, right?" I asked, just to make things clear.

He hesitated. "He did heal Heidi..."

I couldn't believe it. He really had changed. The few times I had seen him it had felt like old times...well, until Heidi or one of the boys entered the room. But now I saw what I hadn't seen before. The old Nathan wouldn't have thought twice about staying with Peter and trying to help him. This new Nathan actually hesitated.

"What did they do to you?" I couldn't help asking. Nathan flinched at my disgusted tone. I continued before he could say anything. "You're actually thinking of...of letting your brother blow up half of New York without doing anything about it? Without trying to help him? Even if Peter does survive do you realise what that sort of guilt does to a person?"

Nathan couldn't meet my eye. "There's nothing I can do. It's inevitable."

That word made me narrow my eyes. "Your mother has been talking to you, hasn't she?"

He nodded, now rather confused having no idea what his mother had to do with anything. I balled my hands into fists. "I warned her," I said through gritted teeth. "I warned her that if she tried to interfere again I would hunt her down and gut her like the worthless carcass she is." I looked across the room at Nathan and realised something.

He'd come to me. He knew what his mother and Linderman were saying was wrong...he'd had doubts...and he'd come to me. And suddenly I knew what he wanted me to say.

"Nathan, if you can't do it for Peter, do it for me," I said and I knew from the look on his face when I said it that I had inferred right. "Save the world...for me."

He was kissing me before I could say another word. And I let him.

I waited for days after that, for some sign that everything had turned out alright. Whenever the phone rang I was there like a shot...which was a good thing because I was the first one to pick the phone up when Heidi rang, hysterical, wanting me to pick up Simon and Monty from school and to bring them to St. Angelus Hospital, near Kirby Plaza. Nathan was seriously injured.

Apparently in the panic Heidi had forgotten one thing: I couldn't drive. However Mum was happy to drive me over to the boys' school and then to drive us to the hospital.

I don't think the hospital staff had ever met anyone like me before. I barrelled through them until finally someone showed me to where Nathan was. Heidi was outside and when she saw the boys rushed up to them and took them the biggest bear hug I have ever seen. I left her to explain to them what had happened and Mum stayed with them because she can be a very calming presence.

I went into the hospital room and found Peter sitting in one of the chairs set aside for visitors. He stood up when I came in the room but I paid no attention to him. All I could see was Nathan.

My Nathan, my sweet, adorable Nathan was lying there looking like a cross between death warmed up and death frozen over. His skin was red and bubbled for no apparent reason I could see. He was connected to what I thought was a life support machine. Having never seen one in my life I couldn't be sure. He at least seemed to be breathing.

I turned to Peter. "What happened?"

He explained. He appeared to be fine after being blown up. I heard him mention that Gabriel (or Sylar, as he called him) had been there but I barely paid attention. Except when I heard that the cheerleader was still in the hospital. Then I got an idea.

I grabbed him by his rather burnt collar and lifted him up. "This cheerleader, she can heal herself?" I hissed. He nodded quickly, suddenly afraid. "Then, Peter, why isn't she in here administering a dose of her blood to her supposed father, hmm? Get her in here, Peter, or I swear that fact that you can regenerate will not help you when I get my hands on you."

Peter fled whether to go and find the cheerleader or because I was beginning to scare him I didn't know. I went and sat beside Nathan on the hospital bed.

"Nathan," I whispered leaning down so that I was nearer his ear. "Can you hear me, Nathan? Please don't leave me." I felt the tears at the corners of my eyes and let them come. Was this how Nathan felt while I lay in front of him, dying?

Peter and the cheerleader came in moments later and I had to surreptitiously wipe away my tears and explain my idea to them. Claire, the cheerleader, seemed up for it. I think Peter might have described my act of one-time madness to her because she kept glancing at me as if half expecting me to lose it.

We plugged her up to the machine and pumped some of her blood into him. It didn't seem to work at first until Nathan sat up with a gasp, like they always do in movies every time the character has a nightmare. I am slightly ashamed to say this, especially since his wife happened to be right outside the door, but I jumped him. I threw my arms around and held as though I would never let him go. He didn't seem to mind.

And then I remembered Gabriel. And how Peter had said that before Nathan had arrived he had been stabbed by some Japanese boy-man called Hiro. From what he could gather his body had yet to be recovered and so there was some chance that he was still alive. Peter assumed Gabriel had escaped through the sewers. But how would I find him in the sewers?

I asked Peter that exact same question and he, not thinking, told me about Molly, the 'tracking system' who could find any powered person, and how she was in the hospital visiting a cop who had been injured at the scene by Gabriel.

I turned to Claire. "Give me two vials of your blood," I demanded. I really don't know what had gotten into me. I was not normally like this.

She seemed stunned and from the look on Peter's face (Nathan seemed too involved in smelling me to notice much of anything) I could tell he was starting to get suspicious. I think I must have looked pretty frightening, nevertheless, because she readily agreed and, after a while, handed me two vials of her blood. And I knew it was her blood, too.

I immediately went to find the cop's room, which was surprisingly easy as he was a room three doors down from Nathan's. He was one life support too. A girl I assumed was Molly and some Indian guy were in the room and naturally looked up from observing the cop's unchanged condition at me.

I got out my wallet and showed her a picture of Gabriel (actually it was a picture of me, Peter and Gabriel watching a movie) and asked whether she could find him for me. She freaked and kept calling him the 'Boogieman' or something along those lines.

I looked over at the cop's life support machine and made a snap decision. "If I heal this guy," I said, pointing to the cop. "Will you find him for me?"

Molly hesitated and glanced over at the cop. I could tell she was weakening.

"Do you have a map on you?" I asked the Indian guy, not really thinking he would but (surprise, surprise) he did. I had Molly pinpoint where Gabriel was. I had to smile. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

Then, as promised, I gave the cop one of the vials of blood. I had intended to have two just in case Gabriel got violent. But somehow when I saw the looks on both Molly's and the Indian guy's faces when the cop woke up I knew I had done the right thing.

I found Gabriel in the sewers underneath Sylar's. He curled up against the wall and at first I thought I was too late. Then he groaned and relief washed over me. He was alive.

"Gabriel?" I said tentatively. His head shot up and he gaped at me in shock.

"_Rachel?"_ he almost shouted. He would have, too, if the pain from the wound in his chest hadn't cut that off half way.

I smiled and sat down beside him. "Yes, it's me. Surprised?"

He grimaced. "That will make the understatement of the year award. I thought you died."

"Didn't stick," I said and I thought I heard him chuckled. It could have been a gurgle of pain, of course. "So," I continued, glancing at him. "You've become a serial killer, have you? How's that working out for you, by the way?"

"Not very well at the moment, I have to admit," he replied, trying to find a comfortable position.

We were both silent for a moment until I asked, "Gabriel, can you tell me what happened after I died?"

And that is how I found out Gabriel's side of the story. He had become very frightened. He had seen what my death did to Nathan. He did not want that to happen to Peter, if the Petrellis found out about their relationship. He also thought at the time that if the Petrelli would stoop to killing me then what would stop them from killing their son, the 'disappointment'? And Gabriel had in part been right. Arthur certainly had stooped to trying to kill one of his sons. He had just been wrong about which one.

Gabriel then told me he had become a serial killer because he didn't think people deserved some of the powers they had. I then told him that when I was quite young I had wanted red hair and hated red heads who always complain about their hair but that didn't mean that I was going to go around ripping their hair off, was it?

He had to admit I had a point. Then quite out of the blue he began to cry. I think it was because he thought he was about to die but I was still surprised. I had never seen Gabriel cry. He was always so in control of his emotions.

I held him in my arms and rocked him gently. When he said, between sobs, "I just want things to go back to the way they were before you died," I had to agree with him. And then I thought, that attitude had gotten me nowhere. Gabriel and I, at least, could not change the past. So we had to change the future, which is really the only thing you can do.

"But we can't, Gabriel," I said softly. "All we can really do is be happy with what we've got and try and find a way to make it so that the future is better than the past. And, Gabriel," I added. "It can be."

I then became very business-like and made him promise to a) atone for his crimes (which, I told him, could take years, if not forever) and b)stop killing people because lots of people are born with things they don't deserve but we don't go around killing them. He readily agreed, partly because I think he thought that Peter might, at least, become his friend again if he did.

I injected him with Claire's blood, a gesture he seemed very surprised at. I told him he could stay with Dad (since I think Mum was still at the hospital) and we went there together. I gave Dad the Reader's Digest version of what had happened and he agreed. I left them watching reruns of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.

I went back to the hospital to check up on Nathan and was surprised to find that Heidi and the boys had left. I entered the room and both Peter and Nathan looked at me.

"Where are Heidi and the boys?" I asked.

"They left," Peter said, as though that wasn't perfectly obvious.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I sort of _got _that since they're not outside. Where did they go?"

Nathan shrugged. "Home, I suppose." After that initial glance he refused to meet my eye.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "What happened?"

Peter, rather than get in the middle of a fight, took that as his cue to leave. I continued to glare at Nathan, even as I went and sat beside him on the bed.

"What happened?" I repeated.

He cleared his throat. "I told Heidi what happened. At Kirby Plaza."

I raised my eyebrows. "How did she take it? In fact, how did she take your miraculous recovery?"

"Surprisingly well," he replied then hesitated.

"What?" I prompted.

He cleared his throat again. "In fact everything was going well...until I mentioned...you."

"What about me?" I asked.

"More the fact that I love you than you personally," he replied, glancing up at me quickly before looking away.

"And?" I murmured.

"Well...after that I sort of...kind of...asked her for a divorce." Finally he looked me in the eye. I didn't realise until then that I had been holding my breath. I let it out with a sigh.

"What did she say?" I asked quietly.

"She sort of...shouted the rest and then left. But I think the gist of it is that we're getting a divorce." He gazed at me and it was my turn to avoid his eye.

Nathan was getting a divorce. Nathan was getting a divorce. Nathan was getting a divorce...and he loved me. Nathan loved me.

I don't think he expected me to kiss him...but I don't think he minded either.

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**But wait! There's more!**


	9. Aftermath

**Chapter Eight: Aftermath**

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

I gave Gabriel one of the business cards Lyle gave in case I met anyone 'in need' (his words, not mine). I've never met anyone as down-to-earth as Lyle. I mean, who else but him would have thought about creating a league for superheroes? Only someone who has read as much comic books as he has.

Lyle called me a few days later and shouted at me for not preparing him for Gabriel's visit. He said he had had to restrain Claire (they're brother and sister. Who knew?) from attacking him because apparently he tried to kill her and take her power. He calmed down eventually (I think he was just shouting at me because Claire was breathing down his neck) and actually seemed rather pleased at Gabriel as a new member (Claire must have left). He told me Greg had taken him under his wing.

That was when Greg came on the other line and asked me where I had been keeping Gabriel all of this time. And whether he was available. I told him that Gabriel's heart was already taken.

"Who's the lucky bugger?" Greg asked, probably thinking he could go over to said lucky bugger's house and beat on him for awhile.

"Peter Petrelli."

There was a long silence and then he said, the shock apparent in his voice, "Peter _Petrelli_? That kid? I can't believe he would ever be able to snag a stud muffin like Gabriel. You're lying, aren't you?" he added suspiciously.

I shook my head, and then realised I was on the phone. "No, I'm really not. Peter loved Gabriel from the moment he saw him and Gabriel was the same, I think. I'm not too sure on that count."

Greg brightened. "You mean there's still hope?"

"Greg," I said slowly and in a very menacing tone, if I do say so myself.

"Oh, all right," he said, pretending to be in a huff. "I suppose you want me to help you get them together, right?"

I blinked. "Actually...that's not a bad idea," I said, trying not to sound too annoyed at not having come up with that idea myself. "Of course it's going to be hard. After all Gabriel told Peter that he didn't love and that he was just using him. Oh, and I think Gabriel tried to kill Peter. Or did. Or something. So it's not going to be easy."

I heard Greg sighed. "The best things in life never are. You should know that by now."

I had to admit that he had a point. I asked him to call me tomorrow once he had worked out the details of the plan. He was slightly miffed at me for leaving all the planning up to me. I remind him that I was working on something very important at the moment and thought he could handle it. He said something very dirty and then, before I could...well, say anything, he had hung up.

Lyle, who had been listening to every word, then told me that a new development had appeared in the who-is-Claire's-real-father case. It turned out that, after some persuasion, Meredith finally admitted that Claire's real father was some guy called Adam Monroe. Zack was helping Claire to find him. Lyle thought he saw definite sparkage going on. I told him to mind his own business. He then told me that since she was his sister, even if not biologically, everything to do with her was his business. Then he hung up before I could argue.

Nathan then said that I should get back into bed before I caught a cold. Since I'm nothing if not practical I followed his advice.

The next day, while Nathan was still sleeping, Greg rang me. His first words were far too filthy to print in any publication, let alone this one, so I will omit them.

"So you have a plan?" I asked, ignoring his remark.

"Oh, it's like that, is it?" he asked, before continuing. "The plan is: I'm going to give Gabriel an assignment which will, of course, lead to direct contact with Peter Petrelli and possibly even them getting naked. What do you think?"

"I hope there is more detail than that," I said dubiously.

He made a sound that sounded an awful lot like _piffle_. "Well, of course there is more detail. I just gave you the Reader's Digest version."

I still wasn't entirely sure but asked him to call with any updates. He said he would.

It turned out that Gabriel's 'assignment' was to take Peter on a road trip to Los Angeles where they had to locate some very dangerous jewel, which if it was not destroyed would annihilate the world as we know it. Personally I think Greg just made that load of bullshit up but hey. Peter seemed to buy it.

According to Peter, who told me about it afterwards, there was initially a lot of stony silence in which Peter pretended to ignore him and Gabriel pretended he didn't notice. Then came the shouting. And then the yelling. Finally there was basically just screaming.

Then (and this was Gabriel's input, not Peter's) Peter looked like he was about to cry. Gabriel tried comfort him but was, naturally, pushed away. Because you can't just expect the guy you told you didn't love him, that you were only using, and who you later tried to kill, to forgive you over night.

And Peter didn't forgive him over night. It took two weeks and a lot of shouting for him to forgive Gabriel. I know this sounds terribly fast but, from what I gathered from Peter, he wants a 'probationary period' for their relationship, just in case.

I had to roll my eyes at that. Peter blushed. I didn't push it. If it makes him happy what have I to say against it?

And he seemed happier than I'd ever seen him since I came back from the dead. Especially when Gabriel tugs on his bangs.

Heidi granted Nathan a divorce. He gave her the house, which she appeared very grateful for. They share custody of Simon and Monty, which means that every now and then they stay over and we all watch episodes of _Smallville_ together late into the night.

I believe Heidi is now dating, and due to marry, some billionaire she met during one of the many benefits she and Nathan used to attend. She invited us to the wedding.

We live above Sylar's now. Nathan reopened it just last month. From the large flow of customers, which has never really thinned, people have missed it. Once an F.B.I agent came to the store and asked me how it had come across its name. I told her that a friend of mine had named it after one of the watches his Dad had fixed.

She didn't seem to buy it, although as you know it was completely true. She then told me to watch out for any creepy men in baseball caps. I told her that some of our best customers were creepy men in baseball caps (that is actually true although they only appear creepy because of the baseball cap) and did she want me to get fired for turning away perfectly good customers.

She didn't seem to appreciate my comments...but rented a copy of _Blonde Ambition_, which meant that she was not a total loss after all.

Lyle called me a few days later and asked if any F.B.I. agents had come around. I said that yes, some blonde woman from the F.B.I. had come to the store a few days ago. He just said oh and told me not to worry about it. I hung up, rather confused. But I didn't worry about it. Lyle is very good at solving problems.

Peter and Gabriel became members of Lyle's league and were usually partnered up. Greg still makes occasional references to his lust for Gabriel which Peter and Gabriel try to ignore. They also try to ignore the fact that sometimes when he gets very drunk he tell anyone in hearing that he was the one that brought them together. He even points at them.

Apparently, according to Lyle, who updates me regularly, Zack asked Claire out and now they are dating. Supposedly their first date was very romantic and Claire cannot stop talking about even though they have had many dates since then.

Oh, and they finally found that Adam Monroe person. I even met him once. He's very nice.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Don't worry. There is more. Unless you don't want more. Then I'm afraid you're out of luck. And shouldn't even be reading this.**


	10. The Theme From A Summer Place

**Chapter Nine: The Theme From **_**A Summer Place**_

**Author's Note: _A Summer Place_ is a 1959 film starring Sandra Dee. I have never seen but I love the theme music. It is very beautiful. I recommend you listen to it, at the very least. And this is the last chapter. Unless I get enough reviews telling to me to continue. If you choose to do this you will also have to supply ideas. Because the end of this chapter is also the end of the story in my mind. **

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

"Nathan, where are we going?" I asked as Nathan pulled me along a corridor. Don't ask me to describe it for you because I was blind folded. I only knew I was in a corridor because Nathan had told me. He hadn't specified _which _corridor.

Nathan sighed. "You know I can't tell you that. It would ruin the surprise."

I grumbled but said nothing more. If I was honest with myself I was loving this. Nathan had always been romantic – or at least very into surprises – but he'd never blind folded me before. I knew that this surprise would blow all those other past surprises out of the water.

I heard him open a door and he pulled me into what I could feel was a spacious room. He removed the blind fold and strode away to a corner of the room where some sort of sound system stood.

I gasped. I had never seen a ballroom before except in movies. It's true what they say: sometimes reality _is _better than fiction. Don't tell anyone I said that, though.

The ballroom reminded me of the one in _Beauty and the Beast_. You know, leaning towards the cherubic statues and gold-papered walls. It took my breath away, as clichéd as that sounds.

Music began to emanate from the sound system. The tune was so familiar as though I had heard it before. But I couldn't place it.

Nathan walked up to me, smiling. He took me in his arms and we danced to the oh-so-familiar melody. I almost melted against him, except that the fact that I couldn't place the music bugged me. Finally I asked Nathan.

"The theme from _A Summer Place._" When I still looked confused he added, "You know that horror movie I made you watch years ago, _Rose Red_? It was in that. And in the _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _episode called _Him_ when Dawn first sees the enchanted-jacket-wearing guy..."

I remembered it then and smiled dreamily. He smiled back at me. "Do you like this, Rachel?"

I shook my head. "No."

Nathan looked rather hurt and I grinned. "I love it."

He glared at me. And then without warning kissed me full on the mouth. I was certainly not going to make any complaints.

At that moment something magical happened. We started floating. I'm serious. Just like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sean Patrick Flannery in _Simply Irresistible _or Christina Ricci and that cute boy who played Casper when he was alive in _Casper_.

I noticed it after a few minutes and grasped Nathan tightly. We weren't very far off the ground but we _were_ floating. A girl can't just accept that in a few minutes.

"Nathan...we're floating."

"Hmmm?" he murmured, seemingly in a daze. Then he looked down. "Oh."

"'Oh'? That's all you have to say? We're floating, and you say 'Oh'?" I said rather angrily, although I was beginning to get used to it.

"Well, I'm not the only one doing it. I mean, I don't have super strength or anything like that," Nathan said, looking at with a significant grin.

This time it did not take me ages to catch on. "You mean I can fly?" I asked happily.

"Possibly," Nathan replied, becoming distracted by something.

"Cool."

I couldn't say anything more because Nathan, at that moment, kissed me like he had never before. There was heat and passion...and love.

He broke the kiss – by that time we were on the ground again – and said, "Rachel, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are the only thing in my life that gives it any meaning. I always think I can do anything if only you were beside me. And as clichéd as all of that sounded, I really do mean every word," he added with a shaky laugh.

I looked at him with wonder in my eyes. Even though he had already asked me to marry him once before I had never really thought he would ask again. Especially after what had happened last time.

"You're asking me to marry you, right?" I asked, just to clarify.

He grinned at me. "Is that a yes?"

I hit him in the arm. "Of course it is. My answer will always be yes," I added in a softer voice.

Nathan really did have the most adorable smile. Even Peter and Gabriel – who are both gorgeous – cannot compete with the adorableness of Nathan's smile.

"Now that your surprise is out of the way," I continued in a very business-like tone. "I'd like to share mine. Okay?"

Nathan nodded, slightly confused.

I gazed at him from beneath my eyelashes. "I'm pregnant." I held my breath.

I really shouldn't have been at all nervous because just a few seconds after I said that Nathan's face broke into the biggest grin I had ever seen on it. He grabbed me around the waist and began twirling me around, kissing me as he did.

He finally stopped twirling me when he realised I was becoming slightly dizzy. He took my head in his hands. "Rachel," he said, his eyes shining. From his tone I expected some complicated love poem. Instead he simply said, "I love you."

"I love you too, Nathan," I said, melting inside. And probably partly on the outside which may explain Nathan pulling me into his arms and dancing with me again.

We began floating again but this time I simply nestled into Nathan's arms and the theme from _A Summer Place _played on.


End file.
